Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

It's Pedro in Game 2

Charlie Manuel dropped some big hints the last few days that Pedro Martinez would pitch Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.

He made it official this morning.

He announced during his weekly appearance on The Michael Smerconish Show on WPHT (1210-AM) that Martinez would pitch Game 2 and Cole Hamels would pitch Game 3.

“When I look at Pedro, Pedro has been in the big environment,” Manuel said yesterday. “He’s pitched about everywhere you can pitch. I don’t think nothing is going to really bother him or get him upset. I think we can pitch him in either ballpark, really. I don’t think it matters at all.

“Pedro has been in the big environment. He’s pitched about everywhere you can pitch. I don’t think nothing is going to really bother him or get him upset. I think we can pitch him in either ballpark, really. I don’t think it matters at all.”

Martinez is 11-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 career starts against the Yankees in the regular season, and is 8-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 16 career starts at Yankee Stadium. He is 1-2 with a 4.72 ERA in six postseason appearances against the Yankees, and is 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA in his last five.

So here is how the Phillies’ rotation looks through Saturday:

Game 1: Cliff Lee

Game 2: Martinez

Game 3: Hamels

The Phillies could start Joe Blanton or J.A. Happ in Game 4 on Sunday, or they could bring back Lee on short rest in Game 4. The Phillies and Lee said it is possible they bring back Lee on short rest to face CC Sabathia in Games 1, 4 and 7, although I think if the Phillies are in good shape they bring back Lee on regular rest and have him pitch Game 5 on Monday.

I like splitting up the left handed pitchers with the way the Yankees lineup is set up. Pedro is probably better suited to pitch in New York and hopefully Hamels can feed off of the energy of the home fans.

If Manuel decides to not use Cliff Lee on short rest, it probably makes more sense to pitch Blanton over Happ. Throwing left handers at A-Rod is dangerous at best.

I like splitting up the left handed pitchers with the way the Yankees lineup is set up. Pedro is probably better suited to pitch in New York and hopefully Hamels can feed off of the energy of the home fans.

If Manuel decides to not use Cliff Lee on short rest, it probably makes more sense to pitch Blanton over Happ. Throwing left handers at A-Rod is dangerous at best.

Yeah I would prefer Cole in 2 and Pedro in 3. He’s set on Lee going on 3 days rest twice though which is the main thing I wanted so I guess it ain’t all bad. No reason to switch Cole and Pedro unless he listens to too much WIP.

I’m not really “worked up about it” but I do think it’s the wrong call. Cole is the 2nd best pitcher on the team in my book so he gets the second start, against who I assume will be Burnett for the Yankees. I like that matchup. I’d rather go in to Philly at least 1-1 instead of potentially 0-2. We shall see.

What difference does it make? Game 2 or game 3? Typing “dumb” 65 times doesn’t get to the point. Are you concerned over the ballpark with the lefties or is there some other cosmic reason? I think you’re worked up over nothing – which is the norm around here.

phylan: Cole wouldn’t be pitching against Burnett – he’d be pitching against the Yankees. The pitching matchup thing is WAY overrated, I think. It doesn’t matter who the other guy on the mound is, as long as you can keep putting zeroes up (as Lee would say) and tend to your business.
Pitching match-ups are for promoting the game and hyping things up, but I don’t think they have much to do with actual baseball.
Footbally doesn’t match-up quarterbacks, and unless the guys are physically on the field against one-another, it doesn’t matter. I’m more concerned with the Yankees’ lineup versus the Phillies’ pitchers, and vice versa. Those are the real match-ups.

The team that has more runs after 9 innings wins. Obviously we have a higher probability of winning if it’s Cliff Lee against C.C. Sabbathia than if it were Antonio Bastardo against C.C. Sabbathia. The hitters play their part, of course, and it’s a huge one, but the pitching matchups aren’t entirely irrelevant.

“The team that has more runs after 9 innings wins.” I’m going to copy and paste that in Microsoft Word and save it as a document file so I never forget it. Thanks for simplifying such a complicated game for me.
Now, tell me, what does the “H” and “E” mean on the scoreboard?

While I understand Phylan’s logic (if you give up less runs you have a better chance of winnint) Mule is right. Pitching matchups don’t matter. Lee won’t give up more or less runs because CC is on the mound for the Yankees. We may score less runs because of that, though. The true matchups are between our offense and their pitching and their offense and out pitching. With Lee and CC on the mounds, both pitching-offensive matchups are even, I think. The first, 4th and 7th games could go either way. We therefore, need to win games 2,3,5,6 just to be safe

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